From September 18th through the 25th, 2010, a group of ALRA members and friends will be spending seven days in the saddle, on an 18th century horse scout. We will cover 100+ miles, and will be taking along only three days of meager rations, as set forth in our ALRA Bylaws for fulfilling advancement to the level of Master Woodsman. This scout was planned and arranged by Ken Stanley, the Idaho State LT, and his friend, Wynn Ormand, and the pair will be in charge during our time in the Idaho and Wyoming wilderness mountains.

Our small company consists of Ken and Wynn, plus James Chandler, the Utah State LT, ALRA member Lynn Kalan, also of Utah, James Stamper, of Idaho, and myself. Each man will be only able to bring a total of 1 ½ cups of either peas, dry corn, beans, corn meal, rice, or flour; + 6 ounces of either bacon, sausage, salt pork, or jerky. All other sustenance must be taken off the land, through hunting, fishing, and the gathering of plants, roots, berries, and other natural comestibles.

We expect the possibility of a bit of rain, and temps in the low 70° range during the day, and down to the upper 30° range at night. As per ALRA regulations, we can spend no more than two days in any one camp, so we will be on the move for a good bit of this adventure. All in the Company are excited, and really looking forward to getting into the saddle and off on our scout! Each of us will be penning our individual experiences whilst on the journey, and a combined report in our ALRA Gazette will be made after our safe return. We expect to have a fine time, and are going to take what comes with a “can-do” attitude and sense of adventure!! Take care Friends, and I’ll post a note upon our return. God Bless, as always!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark Rutledge
Western Partisan
CA State LT.

The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

Gentlemen we have returned succesfully from our horse trek. It was a grand time indeed. Several requirements were passed off for all ALRA members in attendance. We were treated the most beautiful time of year in the rockies as Docs pictures will show you. I will leave him to write to you all about it when he retuns home.

Thanks, very much! It WAS a great adventure, and one of the most difficult I've attempted in many years! But, working together, and sharing what we had and what we gathered, hunted, and fished, we made it in fine, though tired, form! I took 161 photos of our journey, and have already begun to pen a complete report of everything we endured, and accomplished. But, therein lies the rub. I know that we have limited space in the ALRA Gazette, and so, though I will write and submit a report, I am thinking that the complete story is better told with around 40-50 photos, and an accompanying article. So, this is either private website stuff, or possibly something for publication in a medium that allows such lengthy articles, replete with interesting, and illustrative photos of our journey. I see no way to really tell the tale, with only a few photos, and a small article, which is a bummer and a definite challenge!! But, I am looking forward to getting something smaller together for submission to the Gazette, and also some photos to post here. The full and complete story, however, will probably have to go elsewhere, though I'm not sure just where, right now. Still, and all, our time together in the mountains of Idaho will stand as one of the best things we've yet done, and our group really pulled together, along with our horses, to make this epic journey really something special for us all!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark
ALRA #224

The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

Here are a few photos of our journey, just to whet your appetite! Again, it was, simply put, the best woods adventure I've ever experienced, and our group was very well suited to working together, and making sure that we each stayed safe and as healthy as possible. Sharing was the key word, and friendship and support were definitely strong suits of this hearty band of stalwart friends!! Dirty?? Oh, yeah!! From the first day, we got more and more dirty with each passing mile, and each camp! But, that was just part and parcel of our adventure, and nobody worried about that. Filthy men, wearing filthy clothing, 24/7, marked this event, and we'd all do it again in a heartbeat!! Here are a few of the 40-50 photos that it takes to really tell this tale, Friends. I hope they give you just a tiny glimpse into the adventure that we shared together!

Here is some of God's Country, through which we rode on this journey.

This was one of the few group photos we got, and it was taken by some nice Elk hunters we met in the woods.

Here is one of the seven nice grouse that we shot on this trip. They were great eating, I must tell you!

On our one rainy day, here is my trusty horse, Bob, with Rebel behind him, and a brilliant double rainbow in the dark sky!

Our daily rides consisted of riding up ridges, crossing through forests of aspens and pines, and finding a way down...over, and over again! Great fun!!

Bob proved to be a very good match for me, as he was quite sure-footed, and small enough to fit me perfectly. I sang 18th century songs to him, and hummed, as we made our way each day, and he really seemed to like it. Rebel, one of the other horses, hated me doing that, however!! Go figure....

So, there you have it, Friends. This was truly a fantastic, and incredible journey, and our hearty group was very well suited to working together to make it the epic adventure that it was!! More later, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark
ALRA #224
Western Partisan

P.S. Please click on each photo as you view it, so you can see the full-sized image, and get the true flavor of our trip. Thanks!

The only thing that can never be taken away from you, is your honor. Cherish it, in yourself, and in others.

You should have seen him Tom, rolling around in the dirt and muck like a toddler. "This so miuch fun, oustanding and all of those other Doc Mark phrases. It was as if he had never played for so long!!! Enough funning at Docs account. He did not have time to shave or bathe. Not that we were not by water and had pots to warm for shaving. He was either hunting in the saddle or sleeping. Not necessarily in that order. He was a trooper. I would have expected nothing else!